Healthy and Rich Avocado Zucchini Brownies – Gluten and Dairy Free

Gooey, rich and fudgy, yet absolutely chock full of zucchini and avocado! My reasoning is as follows. You can sub applesauce for oil – most of the time. And you can sub pureed zucchini for applesauce, though not when it is being used to sweeten something. So that means you can sub pureed zucchini for oil! Right!?! Well, I was excited to test my theory, so I found a regular (not GF) avocado brownie recipe (because I wanted to play with avocado as well). I made some changes and made it GF, and then I simply subbed my pureed zucchini for the melted coconut. So I forgot (yeah, right) to taste the green mixture, but the completed brownie surprised my family and I! I think it turned out very well, especially because there is no oil and a pretty tiny amount of sugar! Recipe adapted, quite heavily, from ‘Baked by an Introvert’. I think they would be incredible with ganache and strawberries. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

GF flour blend (I used a mix of Namaste and Bob’s Red mill 1 to 1 flour blend. Please note, this is different than their normal blend which has bean flour and doesn’t work very well)

1/3 cup

Cocoa powder (Natural or Dutch processed, I used natural)

½ teaspoon

Baking soda

¼ teaspoon

Salt

1/3 cup

Pureed zucchini

½ cup

Ripe avocado, mashed until very smooth

1/3 cup

Brown sugar, scant and packed lightly

¼ cup

White sugar

1 each

Large egg

2 teaspoons

Vanilla extract

½ cup

DF chocolate chips optional, I did not use them, but I thought they would be a good idea)

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine inch pan by greasing heavily.Step 2: In a small bowl, whisk together the GF flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk to combine the zucchini, avocado, and sugars until fully combined. The mixture will be bright green.Step 4: Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until slightly foamy.Step 5: Stir in the flour mixture until well combined. Add the chocolate chips, if desired.Step 6: Pour in the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 10 to fifteen minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly gooey, but still cooked.Step 7: Remove from oven and let cool before enjoying. The brownies are gooiest when cold.